from the link to Popular Mechanics debunker article:http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=3&c=y
Intercepts Not Routine
CLAIM: "It has been standard operating procedures for decades to immediately intercept off-course planes that do not respond to communications from air traffic controllers," says the Web site oilempire.us. "When the Air Force 'scrambles' a fighter plane to intercept, they usually reach the plane in question in minutes."

FACT: In the decade before 9/11, NORAD intercepted only one civilian plane over North America: golfer Payne Stewart's Learjet, in October 1999. With passengers and crew unconscious from cabin decompression, the plane lost radio contact but remained in transponder contact until it crashed. Even so, it took an F-16 1 hour and 22 minutes to reach the stricken jet. Rules in effect back then, and on 9/11, prohibited supersonic flight on intercepts. Prior to 9/11, all other NORAD interceptions were limited to offshore Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ). "Until 9/11 there was no domestic ADIZ," FAA spokesman Bill Schumann tells PM. After 9/11, NORAD and the FAA increased cooperation, setting up hotlines between ATCs and NORAD command centers, according to officials from both agencies. NORAD has also increased its fighter coverage and has installed radar to monitor airspace over the continent.

I forget the year but in the late 90s i think 1998 a small passenger plane landed ON THE FUCKING WHITE HOUSE LAWN !!!

There is a 1 mile or more no fly zone over the white house. If i remember correctly there is anti aircraft weapons on the roof of the white house, yet some idiot lost pilot in a cessna or similar small craft was able to get on the white house lawn.

How did this happen? answer ? Pussification of america by leftist media and bleeding hearts. Same reason the marine barricks in lebonon were blown up in the 80s (guards that were "Armed" with no bullets .... god forbid they shoot someone that would be worse than 200 marine dieing, and the same reason the USS cole was taken, if i recall is the deck hands were not armed per the captains orders, so the small boat was able to drive up to ship side. If a battle ship cant stop a smal boat or the white house cant shoot down a cessna or ARMED GUARD cant stop a suicide bomber on a active base, what is so hard to belive about the twin towers. These conspiracists give no context for their ideas, its all hypothetical. Not to mention the trouble of shooting down a domestic run away plane in peace times in a non conflict area in the middle of the day in NYC. HMMMM thats not exactly ripe for scandal either. No one wants to admit its a damned if you do damned if you dont. The america hater love it. Just like they want to have us not fight terrorism, but when it happens they blame the US government. NIIIIIICE thanks for telling me whos side your on.

from the link to Popular Mechanics debunker article:http://www.popularmechanics.com/scie...tml?page=3&c=y
Intercepts Not Routine
CLAIM: "It has been standard operating procedures for decades to immediately intercept off-course planes that do not respond to communications from air traffic controllers," says the Web site oilempire.us. "When the Air Force 'scrambles' a fighter plane to intercept, they usually reach the plane in question in minutes."

FACT: In the decade before 9/11, NORAD intercepted only one civilian plane over North America: golfer Payne Stewart's Learjet, in October 1999. With passengers and crew unconscious from cabin decompression, the plane lost radio contact but remained in transponder contact until it crashed. Even so, it took an F-16 1 hour and 22 minutes to reach the stricken jet. Rules in effect back then, and on 9/11, prohibited supersonic flight on intercepts. Prior to 9/11, all other NORAD interceptions were limited to offshore Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ). "Until 9/11 there was no domestic ADIZ," FAA spokesman Bill Schumann tells PM. After 9/11, NORAD and the FAA increased cooperation, setting up hotlines between ATCs and NORAD command centers, according to officials from both agencies. NORAD has also increased its fighter coverage and has installed radar to monitor airspace over the continent.

I forget the year but in the late 90s i think 1998 a small passenger plane landed ON THE FUCKING WHITE HOUSE LAWN !!!

There is a 1 mile or more no fly zone over the white house. If i remember correctly there is anti aircraft weapons on the roof of the white house, yet some idiot lost pilot in a cessna or similar small craft was able to get on the white house lawn.

How did this happen? answer ? Pussification of america by leftist media and bleeding hearts. Same reason the marine barricks in lebonon were blown up in the 80s (guards that were "Armed" with no bullets .... god forbid they shoot someone that would be worse than 200 marine dieing, and the same reason the USS cole was taken, if i recall is the deck hands were not armed per the captains orders, so the small boat was able to drive up to ship side. If a battle ship cant stop a smal boat or the white house cant shoot down a cessna or ARMED GUARD cant stop a suicide bomber on a active base, what is so hard to belive about the twin towers. These conspiracists give no context for their ideas, its all hypothetical. Not to mention the trouble of shooting down a domestic run away plane in peace times in a non conflict area in the middle of the day in NYC. HMMMM thats not exactly ripe for scandal either. No one wants to admit its a damned if you do damned if you dont. The america hater love it. Just like they want to have us not fight terrorism, but when it happens they blame the US government. NIIIIIICE thanks for telling me whos side your on.

I *believe* that the plane landed right outside , on the street, or the mall. I will have to look. Kinda like the guy that landed a plane on Red Square.

A good friend of mine works in the 'business' of air defense for the USA and has these thoughts.

A couple things on that from an "insiders" perspective.

1. Since the "fall" of the Soviet Union the number of combat alert aircraft has been reduced to nearly none. There just isn't the threat from other countrys. The Chinese do not have the air re-fueling capability to launch a raid on North America and then they would be attacking the WEST coast.

2. It takes some time to reconfigure an aircraft from "training configuration" to " air combat configuration". It's not as easy as swaping out the inerts for war shots. Software has to be changed, safetys have to be reconfigured or dis-abled, it takes several hours per aircraft.

3. Norad was never envisioned to defend the country from a threat that originated within the contental U.S. The use of hijacked passenger aircraft for bombs was just never considered as anything more than a novlists story ending. Norads radars look out searching for INcoming bombers and missles. They are not looking for commercial air traffic on established transit routes. That is the job of the FAA's air traffic control system, not the military.

4. How long has it been since the last domestic hijacking? I'd hazzard a guess most of the troops on duty that day were still in kindergarden when D.B. Cooper hijacked that 727. Domestic hijackings have been so rare that there was no provision or procedure in the manuals. Improvisation is as much as could be expected under the circumstance.

5. Those F-15's at Otis were most likly the only "alert" (armed, combat ready fighters) in the whole lower 48 at the time. Now with that they were probably on 20 minute alert. A 20 minute alert means that it's going to be 20 minutes from the call to wheels up flying. After wheels up then it's ? time to intercept. At full burner it would have taken another 15 minutes to New York City to intercept what target? Without AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) to vector them to a target they would have been guessing at which airplane to shoot at. The nearest AWACS aircraft was in Oklahoma that morning and it takes several hours for something in an old 707 airframe to get that far. Remember the NORAD radar in Maine looks north east and is fixed, you can't move it to look anywhere else, This is an antenna the size of a LARGE building, in fact it is a large building. This stuff was built in the fifties through the seventies to guard against an attack by the SOVIET UNION not United Airlines.

Oh yes with out a tanker in the air our intreped fighter pilots would have about ten minutes loiter over New York after running down on full burner. Then they would be wheels down at Kennedy looking for a fuel bouser. Washington D.C.? Your on your own, an F-15 only has a limited range at high mach numbers.

Then again there are only four birds on alert to begin with and those in upper New York state. They get the order to launch two at 8:37 and the first tower is hit at 8:51. Twenty minutes to wheels up on the fighters you do the math.

I've known this guy a long time, and would take his experience over the conspiracy clowns bullshit conjecture any day.

Jamiesann, wasn't the Cole more due to the waters it was in? As in, they weren't allowed to fire unless first fired upon? Which they weren't really attacked until the boat exploded... but I at least know what you were getting at. Just saying, it was international policy that dictated that one.

Although the US has found a way around it somewhat... directional sound weapons. The such that the sound doesn't act like traditional speakers, as you can only hear it where it's being pointed and it doesn't dissipate over distance. They were saying you could warn a ship with it (as it's a non-lethal measure) by practically blowing out the eardrums off the assailants :p

Was watching something I think on the Discovery Channel about it. Think it even mentioned they want to use it in Iraq. Talk about a good way to disorient enemies to get the drop on them.